Infinity Times
by space madness
Summary: [Post-Infinity War; Endgame AU] Tony and Scott have successfully travelled back to 2012 and since changed one event after the next. Seven years later, Thanos returns to Earth with the Power Stone, in his quest to collect the remaining Infinity Stones. In Wakanda, the battle begins anew; a battle for their future, for half of all life – but the outcome remains uncertain ...
1. Chapter – Arrival

**Note: THIS IS A TRANSLATED STORY! (Original author: Britannica on fanfiktion . de) **_This story was originally posted over on the german fanfiction . net and I really enjoyed reading it __– so I decided to translate it for other people to enjoy! Please note that English is not my first language and I am not an English literature student, so some sentences might be a little wonky __– but feel free to correct any mistakes in spelling/expression/punctuation you can find (that would honestly be a great help!)_

_Just to give a little context: This story was written and published before Avengers: Endgame came out so this is going to be an AU I suppose. It is based on various set photos and fan theories and probably one heck of a lot of research. The story will mainly revolve around the Avengers and cover most of the MCU. __Sadly, I am a very slow writer (especially since I got to translate this whole thing) so please bear with me __– it might take a while to publish the 46 chapters in total but I will try my best :) _

_Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story __– have fun reading!_

* * *

**Arrival**

_And there came a day, a day unlike any other when Earth's Mightiest Heroes found themselves  
united against a common threat. __On that day, the Avengers were born __– to fight the foes __no  
single super hero could withstand. _

* * *

The lasting dizziness ended with painful jolt as Tony suddenly hit the ground; he didn't hear anything but silence, although, what he could _feel_ was cold metal on his cheek. He exhaled, before carefully sitting up; it took him a moment to regain his orientation; the world just didn't stop spinning. Slowly, his vision became clearer, sharper; and then he finally recognised the room he was in – a room filled with dreary grey lockers he had last seen six years ago. The display on the wall confirmed his assumption, the flickering image displayed the digits 2012.

Tony stopped for a moment before a wide grin appeared on his face. It had _actually_ worked. He didn't even know what hit him, but he could barely contain his laughter. He was on the _freaking _Helicarrier – he had successfully travelled into the _past_. Tony bit his lip, trying to control his growing smile. He glimpsed at the blue glowing device attached to the back of his hand; never before had he been more thankful for Pym's invention. Nothing had happened yet. Every life he had missed for the past months was suddenly there again, could be saved again – they got another chance. Tony took a deep breath, he had to settle down; there was still a job to be taken care of.

Tony raised himself off the cold metal floor, turning to the door that would lead him out of the locker room. He could not just leave; Scott had been very precise about the intersection of two different timelines – for the sake of leaving the essential elements of his own future intact, Tony could not, under any circumstances, cross paths with his other self. Just like the _Time-Turner_, Tony thought with a quiet, rather awkward chuckle, before taking a thoughtful look at the countless lockers. He randomly opened the first one and then went on checking the others, hoping to find something that could help him disguise himself; and after a few minutes, he did. Inside one of the lockers was a dark blue uniform; a SHIELD uniform. Quickly, Tony turned to the exit door, listening whether there were any suspicious sounds coming from the hallway, but didn't hear anything at all; so without further ado he changed into his new attire, taking everything he might eventually use with him.

The uniform was definitely _not_ comfortable. Tony found himself in one of the countless hallways of the Helicarrier, fully dressed in heavy body armor and a dark tinted helmet, wondering how SHIELD agents could stand running around in this getup for just one day. Walking down the hallway he constantly kept looking back and forth; no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't keep his cool. He might have managed to travel back in time but hadn't really thought about what to do next – to be honest, he hadn't actually believed in their obscure idea when it had first come up, _hell_, even after he had actively worked on the plan with Bruce, Shuri, Rocket and Scott he had deemed taking a trip to the past impossible. It was utterly insane; they hadn't even needed the Time Stone to do it. Tony exhaled, falteringly, as he realized yet again what they had accomplished. God, he had successfully travelled back in time, six years into the past. Everything seemed different, yet familiar at the same time; it felt completely surreal.

And then he suddenly felt a hand roughly grabbing him by his arm, and for a moment Tony's heart seemed to stop. He found himself next to a person dressed in the very same dark blue uniform, but couldn't quite make out a face; he could only see his own reflection in the dark tinted visor of the helmet.

"What are you still doing here? We have to get to landing platform A7, a prisoner has to be transferred to the capsule", ordered the muffled voice of the man, before finally releasing his tight grip. Tony exhaled, relieved and thankful at the same time, and closed his eyes for a short moment – if he would have been discovered just yet ... He gave the man a short nod, quickly mumbling an opaque reply; and then, left with no other choice, followed him down the corridor, headed straight to the main deck.

At the end of the hallway they were received by a group of other identically dressed SHIELD security personnel. One of them typed in a code into a small dial and the door next to it slid open with a quiet hiss, revealing yet another group of SHIELD employees wearing oxygen masks and surrounding the God of Mischief himself, Loki, who seemed to be the only one to get along fine without a mask. An amused smile covered his lips, his arms were folded behind his back. Tony could not help but stare at the dark-haired man; he had _actually _travelled to the past, but his mind took an awfully long time to process this very information. And whilst staring at the blatant expression on Loki's pale face Tony remembered Thor's last words, the last plea the god had asked of him; and Tony knew he would save each and every life he would be able to save. Even if said life _really_ pissed him off.

They escorted the prisoner down the corridor, keeping him put in their midst – Tony believed seeing Bruce's face behind one of the many glass panes where the lab of the Helicarrier was. But they quickly moved past it until they reached a more spacious part of the giant machine; and right in the centre of the room was the same vitreous capsule Tony had already seen once in his life. One of the men opened the special prison, while another grabbed Loki by his arm and manoeuvred him inside the cell; he opened the handcuffs before leaving the capsule and locking the door behind himself. Almost immediately, the group headed off again, down the hallway they had come from – everyone but Tony, who took the first opportunity to fall behind; he only dared to step back out onto the lighted metal bridge that lead straight to the prison cell once the heavy footsteps of the men had disappeared.

"What brings you here, mortal?", Loki asked before he'd even seen Tony approach. Slowly, the god turned around; amusement dripping from every inch of his face. This was nothing more than a game to him. At least it had been, until now. Quickly, Tony looked around – no security camera was pointed directly at him, none could get a clear picture of his face; nevertheless they wouldn't have much time for a long conversation. He looked back over to Loki, who was already opening his mouth to speak up again, but before he could get a chance to do so, Tony pulled off the helmet and took a deep breath.

"_Phew_, you can hardly breathe inside that thing. Can you believe they spend their whole day walking around in that helmet?"

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly in surprise and the corners of his mouth, which had just a moment ago been pulled up in an amused smile, fell slowly; Tony couldn't deny being utterly satisfied with his dumbfounded reaction, before moving yet again closer to the prison cell. Loki gave him a sharp glare. "Should you not be with your comrades, Man of Iron? Do you truly believe your visit will provide you with any new answers?"

Tony looked at him for a moment, remaining silent. Dead. He was dead like everyone else – and still, it was not too late yet, they got another chance. They could still be saved. He remembered looking at Thor's face, seeing the hope in his eyes because their future had not been written in stone yet, because it could still be changed. Tony pursed his lips. Why must it be _Loki_, of all people? He took a deep breath. "Okay, now listen closely, Rudolf. I know this is all fun and games to you, but what you're doing has absolutely no use. Your invasion will fail."

"I do not know–"

"I know it, because I saw it!", Tony cut him off harshly, while stepping closer to the cell; Loki seemed to be genuinely surprised. Tony did not want to hear any of this; he didn't have the patience nor did he have any time for his jokes – Loki just had to listen to him, _now_. He inhaled deeply, his breath shaking ever so slightly while trying to stay calm. "I have already seen this once, Loki. I know about Thanos, I know about the Infinity Stones. And you wanna know how this story is going to end? Where I come from, half of all life is dead."

Tony's eyes were glued to those green ones of Loki, he did not dare to look down even once. They stood in uncomfortable silence, just staring at each other and Tony could tell that the god was uncertain; he seemed to consider whether to tell another lie or actually believe in his words. And then Tony caught a hint of resignation in the other man's face. "How could you, a mere human, know about all of this? Is it possible that you are blessed with the sight?"

"No, but sadly with the future", Tony retorted, his voice laced with weariness, as he slowly dropped his gaze. He could still feel the dust between his fingertips, how it had just slipped through his shaking hands, blown away by the wind on this godforsaken planet; he would do everything to prevent this future from ever happening, he just didn't know _how_. He looked over to Loki again, who still eyed him wary. Maybe this could be the beginning. "You have no reason to trust me, of course not. But there is also no reason to trust Thanos. No matter what kind of wacky deal you made; it is not worth it."

"My future does not have to be the same as yours."

"No, but at least I got one", Tony replied almost instantly, with a strangely controlled, almost cold voice. Loki had to understand. He looked at the god, searching for any motion in his expression – and indeed, he noticed a pair of barely widened eyes. Tony didn't even dare to hope for it, but it truly seemed as if Loki was listening to him; maybe this would be enough, at least for the time being. "Asgard, your parents, you ... you all are dead. Thanos- Thanos will get all the stones. Life is going to lose if we don't change anything about it, _now_."

And in this very moment, Tony believed to have knocked that smug mask the god never seemed to lay down off of Loki's face. He had barely finished his last sentence when genuine concern, maybe even anxiety appeared in Loki's features and his gaze became distant, contemplating. Tony could nearly feel the unspoken question arising – and a short moment later he could hear the god's breathy voice ask: "... is Thor–?"

Tony stifled a faint smile; it seemed like Thor had been right about his dear brother all along. "He's alive. For now, that is, but he has no home", Tony bit his lip, "he got no one anymore, not really."

Maybe, just maybe, Tony even felt something like sympathy for the other man; Loki seemed strangely tense, unsure of what he was supposed to believe. Understandable – Tony didn't exactly bring good news about the future and he had barely any evidence to proof that what he had said was true, any evidence for what was going to happen. The only thing Tony was left with was to hope for the trust of a mad god. _Great_.

Loki glanced at the entrance of the massive room and Tony understood the subtle hint within seconds; without further ado he put on the helmet again, before turning one last time to Loki. "I already saw all of this once – there is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top."

An unreadable expression laid down on his face and still he believed the god behind the thick glass pane understood very well what was on stake; that he might even believe him. Tony could only hope – maybe it was enough for now. And then he hurried to one of the other exits, while heavy steps approached the capsule – Fury, he reckoned. Behind his back he could hear Loki's silent but clear voice ("It's an impressive cage. Not build, I think, for me ..."), as if their little conversation just a few seconds ago had never happened; he could only shake his head in disbelief. _God of Lies_.

And for the first time in months Tony maybe felt something like hope.


	2. Chapter – Seeing, Not Believing

**Seeing, Not Believing**

* * *

"Hill, maybe you should take a look at this."

Maria paused for a moment, before looking over to the supervisor behind one of the many computers. He took his headset off, quickly tipped in a short key sequence and the picture on the display started to play with full volume. Maria leaned over his shoulder, narrowed her eyes at the video; the security cameras showed the special prison cell, their newly arrested prisoner standing inside with his hands folded behind his back ... and, interestingly enough, one of their security personnel. She frowned in surprise, not remembering ever having authorised anything like this. What was that guy doing there alone?

She watched the full live-broadcast until Fury appeared on the screen, took the tablet she had used to broadcast the video and then quickly headed off. With a few steps she reached the glass table; some of their special guests – Romanoff, Banner, Rogers and Thor – had already gathered around it. Nobody said a word while they all watched the conversation between Loki and the director in silence.

"Natasha, I think we have a blind passenger", Maria briefly explained, coming to a halt beside Natasha. She handed her the tablet and Natasha, despite her mild confusion, reached for it; she too watched the short recording and then zoomed into the man dressed in the SHIELD-uniform – the cameras didn't seem to catch a clear picture of his face. Natasha frowned, contemplating. The man must have watched out for the cameras, he must have known he hadn't been allowed to be there – and yet, he had taken off his helmet, as if he had to proof something to Loki. He looked strangely familiar, as if she had seen him before ... but that couldn't be ...

"That looks like– ..."

"Stark. I know, I was thinking the same thing. But Coulson is already on his way here – with Stark."

"An who's supposed to be _Thanos_? What stones is he talking about, do we have anything about it in our data base?", Natasha asked alarmed, glancing over to Maria. As far as she knew they never came across any of those items and her colleague only reaffirmed her assumption when she slightly shook her head no. But that man ... he apparently knew what was going on – and talked about it in a civilized conversation with Loki, their prisoner, who already had numerous lives on his conscience. _Something was definitely not right_. "We have to check the security personnel. Somehow, that man managed to get on board and he it seems that he knows his way around; or Loki turned around even more of our people than we originally thought. We have to head him off before he can leave the ship."

"I'll order an investigation. Is Fury still with Loki?"

Natasha nodded and gave Maria the tablet back, who left the deck of the Helicarrier immediately afterwards, and so everyone was left looking at her. The broadcast of Fury's conversation with Loki had already stopped, but none of the attendees seemed to have gotten any new information out of it. Natasha frowned, contemplating; she couldn't hope for an answer from Banner or Rogers and so she looked directly at Thor, brother of their crazy prisoner. "Does the name_ Thanos_ ring any bells?"

"Not to my knowledge, no", Thor replied, his gaze absently drifting to one of the enormous windows of the Helicarrier. "What I know is that Loki is in possession of an army, the Chitauri; they are not from Asgard or any other realm we know of. He will lead them into battle; they are meant to conquer Earth under his order – in return of the Tesseract, I suppose. Thanos I do not know, but Loki possibly met him before his arrival on Midgard."

"He wants to open a new portal", intersected Bruce, who stood beside the glass table, his arms crossed; everybody turned towards the man and taken aback by the sudden attention he sheepishly adjusted his glasses. "He will need an astrophysicist to do so – Selvig."

Thor looked as if he was about to reply, but was suddenly interrupted by one of the supervisors reluctantly clearing his throat. The screen in front of him displayed an image of the Helicarrier and the area around it. "Agent Romanoff, we have an unidentified flying object departing the Carrier – it possibly launched from here. We didn't give clearance for take-off and every attempt of making contact has been rejected so far."

Natasha narrowed her eyes in confusion. _What the hell was going on?_

* * *

Light rain was falling from the still overcast sky. It was getting dark. He let FRIDAY direct some additional energy into his repulsors, moving away from the Helicarrier at a nearly flight-like pace. The giant ship was flying through the air several yards behind him and with every second Tony brought more distance between himself and the Carrier.

"FRIDAY, locate Scott's tracking-signal."

›_Mr Lang is currently located on 6th Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan, Sir_‹

Tony managed to bring up a small smile. "The one time we have to be a little discrete and the guy practically lands right beside Times Square. Whatever, confirm the signal before he changes his position again. I don't wanna have to look for him in the crowd."

_Crowd_. Tony bit his bottom lip; when was the last time he had seen a crowd of people in the streets? It felt like years had passed; everything seemed distant to him, strange, as if nothing of the mess in the last months had ever happened – only that it would. All of it would happen if they didn't change anything now. All the civil wars, all the anarchies and dictatorships ... all this turmoil, because a mad titan had decided to snap his fingers and every second person on this planet had turned into dust in a matter of seconds. Tony closed his eyes for a short moment and suddenly all those terrible pictures appeared in front of his mental eye; he watched in horror as all of his comrades on Titan disintegrated, bit by bit, watched Peter, clinging frantically onto his shoulders and begging with that soft voice of his, watched as the boy vanished into thin air and the dust slid through his shaking fingers. God, Peter.

›_Sir, I register an increased heart rate. I am initiating the protocol for a possible panic attack. You are now temporarily on autopilot_‹

"No, it's all right ...", Tony tried to protest with a weak voice, even if he tensed up and his whole body stiffened, the tight feeling in his chest growing stronger with every new breath; his helmet was suddenly way too small, he could barely breathe. And then, out of nowhere, a calm voice came from the speakers that were installed in his iron helmet, and she laughed and rambled on and on about trivial things – and Tony seemed to relax for a moment; the voice warmed his clenching heart. _Pepper_. He kept his eyes closed, just listening to her – and after a few minutes he could feel his racing heart slow down again. Even if he had not dared to hope for it back then Pepper had survived the titan's purge and never before had he felt more grateful; she was still there, _she was still there_.

›_Sir?_‹

Tony took another deep breath and let his suit glide through the night on its own. He should not think about all the things he had already lived through once; it could happen like it had before, but it didn't had to. Everything could still be changed, corrected; they could still put things on the right track. He was in the past, goddammit, everything _had to_ change. Tony pursed his lips and then finally opened his eyes. "I'm alright, FRIDAY."

And with those three words the autopilot deactivated and within a few seconds Tony had retrieved full control over his suit. For a few minutes he flew over the illuminated city just a few yards beneath him in comfortable silence and Tony couldn't help but smile. Everything was still there. "And FRIDAY?"

›_Yes, Sir?_‹

"Thanks."

›_No problem, Mr Stark_‹

When Tony finally was over Midtown he dimmed the lights of his suit as much as he possibly could and then slowly approached to land just above the Bryant Park. He tried to reach the ground in between a couple of tall trees, took several twigs with him and probably scared a cat on one of the thicker branches to death on his way down; but as soon as he landed on solid ground he let his suit disappear into the device in his chest again. Never before had he been more thankful for his achievements in the field of nanotechnology (or that he had reinstalled his arc reactor) than in this moment. A small smile appeared on his lips when he thought about the current technological status of his younger self. Everything had to start somewhere, he supposed.

Tony noticed a few people turning around in surprise and felt prying eyes on his back when he passed by – of course, this was New York and he was Tony Stark aka Iron Man after all. Besides that, crashing through a bunch of treetops in a public park probably wasn't the most unobtrusive thing to do. He sighed. _Great_.

Even at night the Bryant Park was well-visited and so Tony tried his best to push through the dense crowd without running anyone over; and while he was already heading for an exit he noticed a man with a baseball cap and – without thinking too much about it – snatched it off of his head. Somewhere behind him he could hear an angry exclamation but Tony had already left the park in a rush and was now walking down 6th Avenue. He looked around, unsure where to look for his time travelling accomplice, the cap pulled down low over his face. Right now they were in the lab. Right now they were locating the Tesseract. It seemed so unbelievable, it felt like an illusion, like a dream, if it wasn't for–

"Stark!"

Tony turned around and spotted Scott between unfamiliar faces, saw him hurry towards him, fully dressed in his red and silver suit; he looked just as stirred and hyper as Tony felt. Scott stopped right in front of him, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. "God, it worked, it actually worked! At first I thought I just changed places, but then I saw the date on the newspapers and, _man_, I almost freaked out! I can't believe it – we actually really truly did it!"

"Yeah, we did it", Tony repeated silently, a small smile forming on his lips. Scotts overexcited nature had been getting on his last nerve far too many times in these past months and yet he had never had more understanding for his child-like thrill and over-the-top enthusiasm than in this very moment. Nonetheless, a more serious expression settled onto his face; their little time travel had only been the first hurdle. "That alone wasn't enough, Scott. Work's far from done."

"Yeah, sure, I get it", Scott replied immediately and Tony could see how hard he was trying to keep his excitement down. "So, what's the plan? The date's correct, but our time travel didn't really take the hours all too serious."

Tony sighed, before turning away from Scott, contemplating, and looking over to a few of the many illuminated skyscrapers of Manhattan. It was still the middle of the night, and yet he noticed soft daylight fighting its way onto the black sky. Just a few hours from now hell would break loose in New York. Just a few hours from now the world would change. He turned around once again, facing the only friend he knew at his side, at least for the time being. "The portal has to open. If I can't shoot that missile through the space hole there will be a whole army waiting for us in the near future. We have to take out the Chitauri."

"Okay. And then?"

Tony thought about Loki and their conversation on the Helicarrier; he thought about how the two gods had left Earth with the blue cube and practically brought their own doom to Asgard. He thought about the future and the only possibility to save it.

"Then we have to keep the Tesseract from leaving Earth."


	3. Chapter – Doors Open From Both Sides

**Doors Open From Both Sides**

* * *

"Uhm."

"What?"

"_What the fuck?"_

Scott looked at Tony in disbelief. He hoped to find any sign that told him Stark's plan was just a very bad joke, but the other man kept a straight face. Panicked screams and loud gunfire in the background interrupted their conversation; numerous aliens flooded the wrecked streets of New York and the blue sky was plastered with those tiny, flying space hover-boards. Scott frowned, seriously questioning Tony's common sense. "Let me get this straight. You want to grab me by the collar, fly me up the Stark Tower – that is, by the way, currently surrounded by a bunch of aliens – to talk to the guy who just so happens to be the leader of said aliens?"

"Yeah, pretty much", Tony confirmed the short summary Scott gave, ignoring the completely flabbergasted look his comrade was throwing at him. "Dude, the freaking _Hulk_ just jumped into the Tower!"

Somewhere in the distance, an angry roar teared through the smoke stained air. The two man looked up in surprise. The Hulk charged through one of the Tower's many windows, debris and slivers raining down at the streets while the massive, green monster clinged to the facade of another skyscraper and striked at the next best Chitauri. Tony stopped for a short moment, blinking a few times before turning to Scott again, an amused smile on his lips. "Now would you look at that, there's just the aliens left. Shall we–?"

Scott opened his mouth in protest, but he couldn't think of any back talk and so he dropped his shoulders, finally giving in with a resigned sigh. "Whatever. Let's do it."

"Great", Tony replied, content with his friend's final surrender, before his nanotech armour crawled out of the housing device and quickly deployed over his body. Scott too pushed a button at the side of his helmet, making it close up around his entire head. "Alright, hold on tight–"

He tightly grabbed the silver belt of Scott's suit and then directed all energy into his repulsors. Tony rocketed upwards within seconds, holding Scott tight in his grip, and then headed straight for the big outside area of the Stark Tower – kindly ignoring the high-pitched, girly scream that had escaped Scott's lips when they had taken off. They floated in mid-air for a moment, before Tony carefully manoeuvred through one of the broken glass windows of the Tower; at the sight of the familiar interior an odd feeling washed over his clenching stomach. As soon as they were above solid ground Tony put Scott down and almost simultaneously his suit disappeared again; beside him Scott's helmet opened with a quiet hiss.

"That wasn't that bad, huh?", Tony darted his partner a questioning look, but the other man only countered his amused tone with a disgruntled stare. With a shake of his head he turned away from Scott and instead went further into the spacious living room of the Tower – in which's midst laid a god, his pale face bruised and scratched up, rammed quite a few inches into the floor. He let out a surprisingly high, almost squeaking sound. Tony walked up to him, looking down at the dark-haired man with lifted eyebrows and an unfazed gaze. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Immediately, his green eyes flickered up and eventually stuck to Tony's face with an intent look inside of them; Loki cleared his throat, before trying to sit up in vain. It looked rather miserable. He pressed his hands onto the floor to support himself, right next to the edges of the hollow the green monster had rammed into the floor with his limp body. He remained silent, staring straight into Tony's eyes with an unreadable but somewhat contemplating look, before his barely audible voice started to mumble: "... there is no throne."

"Truly astonishing, now isn't it, to hear me tell you the same thing twice in the past few days", Tony retorted leisurely, pointing at his hair with a fair wave of his hand and then crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And even if this may come to you as a surprise; it's definitely not your little invasion out there making my hair go gray in the span of a few hours."

"You travelled here from the future."

"Reindeer Games finally got it, I see."

Loki slightly slumped to the ground again, sighing exhausted; au fond, he had imagined his trip to Earth to be a little _different_, if not even much less complicated than it had turned out to be. He glared at Tony again, that human who's dark eyes were still staring at him in silent anticipation, and Loki finally gave in completely – just like that man had foreseen, his invasion had been doomed to failure for a long time now. It seemed like he had nothing to lose anymore.

"If it's all the same to you", Loki couldn't quite believe that these next words were about to leave his mouth, "... I'll have that drink now."

* * *

_Five months prior ..._

_or six years and four months into the future_

* * *

"The Quantum Realm?"

"Yeah", Scott confirmed almost instantly with an excited tone after happily noting that Tony was giving him his full attention, "it is a subatomic area you can only access through continuous diminishment."

"What's your plan, turn Thanos into a quark?", Tony replied, still a bit confused. He eyed the other man with a contemplating look. Scott had reached Wakanda a few days prior, shortly after contacting Clint; before that he had tried to reach Sam, but just like his other countless tries of making contact this one too had been unsuccessful – nobody had seemed to want to tell him why that was, but he eventually had to find out what had happened.

Now he stood in front of Tony, shaking his head and waving his hands around, trying his best to convey the utmost importance of his information. "It's not about the quantum realm per se, but more about its laws of physics. Time and space don't really matter in this dimension."

Tony lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "Time is not applicable there?"

"Nope."

"Okay, c'mon", Tony retorted immediately after he had processed the information Scott had just told him; his brain cells ran on full speed and he could sense the distant feeling of hope burgeoning inside his chest. Time was not applicable there. He had to talk to Bruce immediately, ideally have a chat with Shuri and Rocket, too – maybe they still had a chance, maybe there was another way to make things right, just like the Doc had foreseen on Titan.

He hurried through one of the demolished hallways of the royal palace, Scott following close behind. They reached one of the many conference rooms that they had been using for endlessly long political discussions. Some of the remaining Avengers were seated around the large table – Bruce, Natasha and Steve kept close together, just sat there in silence, one looking worse than the other. Tony let Scott enter first and ignored the surprised and startled gazes his former comrades eyed them with.

"If there is a place where time is not applicable", Tony immediately began, his voice thoughtful, as his eyes searched for those of Bruce, "then we should be able to manipulate it from there."

Bruce frowned, contemplating, slowly crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Provided there is such an alternative dimension allowing something like that."

"And apparently there is one", Tony replied instantly before looking over at Scott, who stood beside him, seemingly not at ease; of course, since the last time they had met they had been beating each other up in a rather brutal manner. He cleared his throat and took a step further into the big room – and then he began to tell them about everything; the Quantum Realm, the Pym Particles; simply everything he could think of. Natasha and Steve exchanged an uncomprehending gaze, eyebrows raised in stunned silence, but Bruce's eyes seemed to widen with every other word.

"If we manage to get into this dimension, then maybe we can open a gateway back to our dimension in the right spot– ..."

"–and if it works out, ideally a few years in the past, because conveniently time doesn't play a role in the Quantum Realm, right", Tony added, slowly nodding his head in agreement. Bruce looked at him with wide eyes and Tony could only mirror his friend's bewildered gaze. If they did it right, if they managed to pull off this crazy plan, then maybe a trip to the past could be possible, even without using the Time Stone. _Fucking hell_, Tony thought with a silent snort, time travel – they could go back, just wind up the clock; change everything. They could just save every lost life.

"And what about the timeline? Are we just going to wind up our own one or will there be more than just one? Will they overlap?", Natasha suddenly asked, her green eyes wandering over Tony to Bruce. The scientist bit his lip, contemplating, and wearily wiping his face with both hands (barely noticing the soothing look Natasha gave him). "If we use the Quantum Realm, ... then it won't be a time travel like it would have been with the Time Stone. Thanos did not reduplicate, when he–"

Bruce cut himself off and closed his tired eyes for a moment; he did not want to finish his sentence and according to the deeply saddened looks on his comrades faces they did not want to either. He quickly cleared his throat, forcing his thoughts away from what had happened. "Thanos can wind back time in a closed space without changing the entire timeline. That probably won't be possible in our case, I assume the timelines have to duplicate."

"Something we'd have to take into account?", Tony tore his gaze off of Bruce and looked over at Scott, who nodded his head. "Ever watched Harry Potter? We should not cross paths with our past selves, they probably won't know how to handle something like that; it could change very important and very fundamental elements of the future in a way we wouldn't want it to change."

"And then?", asked Steve, who up until now had been silently listening to the conversation. "If we made it, what are we going to do then?"

Cluelessness arose amongst the remaining Avengers, hanging in the humidly warm air of the suddenly silent conference room. Nobody had really thought about any further steps yet – how could they, if even the sheer _possibility _of travelling back in time was this utterly mind-blogging? And then, all of a sudden, the sound of a deep voice broke the never-ending silence: "Then we shall bring all the stones to Earth and secure them there until Thanos arrives."

Their heads simultaneously turned to the entrance of the conference room to face Thor, who stood in the door frame; he had been for quite some time now, quietly following their conversation without being noticed. His eyes seemed determined, his voice deep and firm: "The Tesseract should have never been brought to Asgard. Thanos stared his search for the stones after the death of my father – I highly doubt this to be a coincidence. That would leave us with some years of time to collect the stones on Midgard. Then, maybe, we could beat him."

"So, the Tesseract stays on Earth, got it", Tony confirmed curtly and looked over at Scott yet again, "but, say we'd managed to change our past enough to make a difference, what exactly is going to happen to us? Can we just come back to our own timeline?"

"Then our bodies will travel through the Quantum Realm to the last equivalent point of both the timelines; that's the last point where the timelines cross. If we miss it ...", Scott hesitated for a moment, contemplating and avoiding the Avenger's stern gazes, "... well, then we would be trapped in the subatomic space. But if we don't make any mistakes, that's very unlikely to happen."

"And then? When the key event happened and we travelled back to the last congruent point, what are we going to then?"

Scott looked at Tony again, who perseveringly continued to stare at his face; and if he wasn't mistaken, he could make out a weak glimmer of hope in the other man's eyes. Scott took a deep breath before laying all of his assurance, all of his confidence in their plan, into his final gaze. "And then ... then we are going to rewrite history."


	4. Chapter – Subjugation

**Subjugation**

* * *

"Interesting, a voyage through time taking advantage of the multiverse. Say, how can it be that you were able to enter it without using any mystic energies?"

"Does that really matter now?", Scott asked in return, a question to which the God of Mischief replied with an envious glare, only squinting at the impatient human; resigned, he let out a tiny sigh. "We used the Pym Particles to shrink ourselves down so much that we could enter the subatomic space – that was our entrance ticket to the Quantum Realm. From then on, it was just a matter of energy and when and where we'd turn to normal size again."

Loki listened to the man's explanation in silence, lifting his eyebrows in surprise, if not even silent awe; it was barely intelligible to him how mere mortals could come up with such an exceptional idea. He sat on one of the many steps that lead to the Stark Tower's bar area, a glass filled with a beautifully clear, caramel brown Scotch – Glenfarclas, Tony's favourite Scottish whisky out of a bottle which he actually already emptied out six years ago – (Tony couldn't deny it; their little trip to the past sure had some pleasant side-effects). Scott, on the other hand, stood at the end of the small staircase, eyeing the God of Lies with an suspicious glare, whilst Tony poured himself a drink. And how could he not? Only thinking about the future that still awaited them made him want to get drunk immediately; that he hadn't reached for a bottle up until now was actually a miracle.

Tony looked up from his glass and over to Scott, who watched him with an uneasy look on his face, before turning to the surveillance monitors that were hid throughout the living room. He turned back to Scott again. "You used to break into places, right?"

Scott frowned, puzzled, but Tony didn't give him an opportunity to answer his seemingly random question: "There are camera's everywhere. We should delete the camera footage before I watch myself having a drink with Rudolf over there. The security room is on the bottom floor and nobody except Happy is controlling the security personnel, especially not now. You can just bust in and nobody will notice. The log-in–"

"Please, I'm not a rookie", Scott replied with a reassuring smile just as he understood what Tony wanted him to do. He nodded at his partner again and gave Loki a short but suspicious look before turning away from this more than just odd gathering and disappearing inside the elevator. Tony gazed after him for a moment, then sighed quietly and took his glass to join Loki at the stairs – he ignored the surprised gaze of his neighbour, who seemed to be very indeed astonished by his ingenuous behaviour.

"So, well", Tony began rather awkward and deeply took in the view of the bottom of his glass. He never could have even dreamed about having a drink with Loki in his living room in the Avengers Tower, and yet here he was, sitting beside the guy who's head he would have loved to smash years ago. "... you are losing right now."

"Astonishingly perceptive."

And yet again silence followed their short-lived conversation. Overall, their little (and thanks to the Scotch rather fearless) chat seemed to be a considerably big success. After all, they had not yet tried to kill one another – and if the guy beside you was the leader of an alien army that tried to take over the entire city, then _that_ had to mean something at least. Contemplating, Tony took a slow sip of his drink and paused for a short moment, before turning back to Loki: "Did you want any of this?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"This whole alien conquest story", Tony waved loosely at the big window and a couple of Chitauri flying through the air behind it. "Did you want any of that or was it all Thanos? I mean– when you arrived ... your eyes were blue. And on the Helicarrier they weren't anymore."

Tony watched the god beside him close his eyes for a short moment, a weary look on his face. Then, he shook his head barely noticeably. "I left Asgard, expecting to find death in the emptiness of space; that I would meet the Titan instead was nothing I intended. He considered me an useful ally, even though he did not trust me. He–", Loki hesitated for a moment, swallowing hard, "–he did not spare any ... efforts to ensure my fealty."

"He tortured you and then used his magical wand of destiny to implant this fake make-believe world– illusion ... or whatever the hell it is into your head", Tony summarized. The god didn't even try to gainsay and so Tony leaned back, more than amazed by the information he had just received. Loki was just yet another victim. And no matter how much Tony strove against it, everything seemed to point bluntly at the fact that the crazy god behind the attack on New York was nothing more than a marionette in a big theatre play whose strings were pulled by a greater threat. Stunned, Tony shook his head. "Why didn't you ever say anything? You should have talked to Thor about it."

And then, even if it was barely noticeable, he could hear a snarky laugh coming from Loki. "In Asgard I am nothing more than a monster. The Allfather would never listen to what I'd have to say, nobody would – they would lock me away in the dungeons before I could even utter my first word. Why not play the role, then, that they have predestined for me to play? Who else would consider my word to be true?"

"Your brother", Tony asserted forcefully, his answer slipping over his lips almost all by itself; and yet Loki only bit his lip and lowered his gaze, looking down at the dark marble floor. If they weren't in this particular situation, Tony would have laughed out loud – this family really was one hell of a mess. "Yeah, no offense but if you can't see that Thor would believe you, Reindeer Games, then you are even crazier than I initially thought. He loves you – granted, he's probably the only one who really does, but still. I know the score, so don't make yourself lonelier than you actually are."

Beside him, the god had fallen silent, staring absently into his glass for a few seconds before he looked up again, turning to face Tony and meeting his dark eyes. "If I were to ask you to look into your memories, would you give me your consent?"

"What?"

"If I wish to do so, I can travel through the mind of a person", Loki explained tersely and Tony looked at the god in surprise; he would have never thought that he would ever _ask _for permission. He shrugged indifferently. "It's not a very pleasant sight. But if you'll believe me then ... go ahead."

Tony let the god place two (surprisingly cold) fingers on his forehead and then, in the matter of a few seconds, a lot of things happened at the same time. Tony could see the Ten Rings flash before his eyes. He saw the portal in New York; Sokovia and Siberia; he saw the video that he had never wanted to see again, saw how Steve rammed his shield into his chest; God, he couldn't _breathe_; saw how Thanos sank the giant blade into his side and how Peter, how everyone of them, turned into dust and vanished into thin air; he saw his return to Earth and all their shocked faces, the chaos, the pain – and just as all of it got on top of Tony, whatever had happened stopped as quick as it had started. He let out his faltering breath, concentrated on the heartbeat racing inside his chest; he barely noticed that Loki's cold fingers did not rest on his forehead anymore. He didn't dare to look up at the god; he didn't want to see his face. Instead, he only listened to the uncomfortable, downright cruel silence that had come over them with dull ears.

"Your future ...", Loki hesitantly spoke up after some while with his clear voice, that all of the sudden seemed so much more worn out, so much more _discouraged_ than just moments ago, "what do I have to do to prevent it?"


End file.
